Theatre District process rapped

Sunday

Mar 17, 2013 at 6:00 AMMar 17, 2013 at 6:35 AM

By Nick Kotsopoulos

‘Public input” has long been an oft-repeated buzzword at City Hall.

Time and time again city officials have encouraged the public to offer input on key issues facing Worcester. And time and time again, city officials have said how much they value and appreciate the public input they receive.

But there are some folks who aren’t feeling particularly appreciated for the input they offered on the Downtown Worcester Theatre District master plan.

In fact, one resident contends that concerns about the Theatre District master plan pretty much fell on deaf ears; so much so that last week she has came out and called the process a “sham.”

Nicole Apostola has been closely following the master plan process in a blog (nicolecommawoo.wordpress.com) she writes about city issues.

When City Manager Michael V. O’Brien presented to the City Council last week the final version of the proposed Theatre District master plan, Ms. Apostola compared that 90-plus page document to the original draft, both products of a joint effort of the city’s Executive Office of Economic Development and the Worcester Business Development Corp.

She said she found few changes had been made to the final document, despite public input from a two-hour forum held Jan. 23 at The Hanover Theatre about the Theatre District master plan.

In addition to the many comments from the 150 people who attended that forum, additional written comments were also submitted to the city. In other words, there was quite a bit of “public input” on the matter.

But Ms. Apostola said one would never know that given the few differences between the original draft and final version of the master plan.

She said the only changes she came across were “two small paragraphs and a few rewritten sentences.”

“In short, the public input process was a sham,” Ms. Apostola told the City Council last Tuesday. “Either the WBDC, its consultants and the city administration think they can read the minds of the people of Worcester, or the wishes of the public were never that important.

“Because the city administration did not incorporate any changes recommended by the public, I don’t think there should be another meeting about this plan until those comments are incorporated,” she added.

Interestingly, when the Theatre District master plan came up on the agenda at last week’s City Council meeting, District 5 Councilor William J. Eddy moved to have it tabled.

That came as a surprise because the item was expected to be routinely referred to the council’s Economic Development Committee for review and possibly more hearings.

Also, Councilor-at-Large Frederick C. Rushton requested that the public comments — both those that were made the night of the forum at the Hanover Theatre and those that were submitted in writing — be added to the master plan report.

So, maybe Ms. Apostola has caught the attention of some city councilors with what she had to say.

The problem with the master plan process used for the Theatre District was that the cart may have been put before the horse.

In 2007, for instance, the process to develop a master plan for the north end of Main Street and the Lincoln Square area took some 10 months and included several public hearings and a planning “charrette” so planners and the public could work together to brainstorm ideas.

Also, in 2004, a two-day summit was held at Union Station to help city planners develop with the public an economic agenda for the downtown and neighboring areas. A couple of hundred people participated in that and what came out of it was used to shape the city’s development agenda.

In both those instances, public input was sought first to help shape the direction of this planning initiatives.

In comparison, “public input” for the Theatre District master plan process seems to have come afterward. Instead of helping shape the master plan, the public has found itself reacting to it.

“The process for putting together the master plan consisted of closed-door meetings with property owners from that part of the downtown and did not involve the public beforehand, as has been done with many other downtown master plans,” Ms. Apostola said.

“To be fair, there are aspects of this plan that are good,” she added. “But the things that people would like to see, such as food trucks, festivals and pop-up galleries, already could be happening,” she added. “You don’t need a master plan for that. We need a master plan to guide us in creating more restaurants and housing, and in encouraging local entrepreneurs.”

Ms. Apostola is especially concerned about what isn’t addressed in the master plan for the Theatre District — and that is what is in store for the Francis J. McGrath municipal parking lot behind the Worcester Public Library.

The master plan does not make any recommendations on what, if anything, should be done with that lot. Ms. Apostola said she fears that could leave the parking lot wide open to development that could negatively impact the public library.

Of particular concern has been talk about having twin indoor hockey rinks built there that could be used by local colleges. It is something that public library officials and supporters of the library are not particularly enthused about.

That was underscored by Judy Finkel, a member of the Worcester Public Library board of trustees and chairman of the library’s task force on the Theatre District.

While addressing the council last week, she said that while public library officials are very enthusiastic about downtown development and the role the library can play in it, they are very concerned about any plans for development around the library, especially in the McGrath parking lot.

Ms. Finkel said there is a need to have “affordable and safe” parking that can accommodate the needs of library patrons. She urged that ownership of the lot remain under municipal control so it can remain affordable.

She added that the construction of an ice rink on the McGrath lot would not enhance library patrons’ experience or enhance the library’s mission or vision in any way.

Given all this, now we’ll see just how much the City Council values “public input” on this matter.

Contact Nick Kotsopoulos at nkotsopoulos@telegram.com.

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